THE ENEMY WITHIN OUR COUNTRY

BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted December 17, 2004)

More than 4,600 DUI arrests in Nashville this year, so far! That's a lot.... and two holiday weekends are still ahead.

And keep in mind, that's just the arrests.... who knows how many drunks manage to make it home, or to wherever they're going, without getting arrested, or hurting someone.... this time at least.

It's serious business folks. Drunk people, who can't even walk straight, behind the wheels of 3,000 pound vehicles, heading straight toward you, or your child, or your parent, or your friend. The potential for damage and death is mind boggling.

Sometimes, we talk about it so much on TV that I fear it becomes little more than background noise on newscasts.

There are lots of facts and figures I could throw out. But you know the numbers. Tens of thousands every year, killed, or maimed, or forever impaired by drunk drivers.
Billions of dollars spent.... all because people choose to get drunk, and then drive.

The jail time, or other punishment, is not what I'm concerned about. That happens after the fact.
What I worry about is, somehow, keeping drunks from driving, period. It's as simple as that.

But how do we do it?

After 9/11, we Americans sacrificed our time and convenience at airports and arenas, even when we know we're not a threat. All for the public good.
I know I'm not carrying a bomb or a weapon, yet I allow the invasive and thorough check because it might just weed out someone who is.

We already have some technology to do it for drunk drivers. For example, those alcohol ignition interlock devices.
When someone is caught driving drunk, install one on their car, immediately.

Better yet, manufacturers should start installing some kind of device on all cars.
Or we could personally install them on cars of people we love.

For a fraction of what the government spends on the effects of drunk drivers, we could encourage scientists and inventors to come up with new ways.... keys or key holders, for example, that must get a "clean blow" before they'll start the car.

Put the right financial incentive out there, and you'll be amazed at what technology can be developed.

The last time I took a flight, right there in front of everybody, I had to take off my shoes and belt, and let a security man pat me down. Surely, in the privacy of my own car, I'd be willing to breathe into a device to "let my vehicle know" that I'm in the proper condition for driving.

Our government has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to keep another tragedy like 9/11 from happening again. And rightly so.

The 9/11 attacks were even the catalyst for going to war!

But every year, drunk drivers are killing around 20,000 people. 20,000 Americans!
And hundreds of thousands of people are disabled for life, or suffer devastating injuries. And the cost in dollars is simply incalculable.

Maybe it's time this country goes to war against drunk drivers.

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